Political Responsibility in the US and Europe
I wasn't exactly sure where this one would go but I wanted to touch on the issue of the social, political, and civil resposibilities of those in the United States and in Europe Since WWII, Germany has seen a massive political revolution in the hearts and minds of each and every citizen. After the atrocities performed under the "support" (or rather neglect) of the German people, they have made an uncommon bond to be politically and socially responsible, to never again allow a leader to abuse the power instated by the people. As such, the citizens of western europe make it their personal responsibility to inform their representatives when something is going wrong. America has never seen such a similar event take place and therefore many people in the United States do not take politics as serious as they should and prefer it not interfere with their daily lives. Regardless of your political beliefs, it is your civic duity to stand up for what you believe in and make your voice be heard. My questions to you are: # Do you believe that the above statement is true and those living in Europe do indeed have a greater sense of political responsibility? # Why, do you think, those living in the United States always seem to get upset when engaging in a political debate with someone with different beliefs? Why is it seemingly impossible for two people from oppositie sides of the political and economic spectrum to have a rational and unbiased debate? ## This isn't an issue exclusive to the United States. Each individual has a view in mind of what the world "should" be, and anyone who disagrees with them is in effect telling them they are wrong. Most people cannot admit, or even accept, when they are wrong. # How do you think we can inform the public of their civic duties and make people take a more active position in their local, state, and federal governments; both inside and outside the USA? :I believe the statement is completely true. I'm impressed and thrilled that Europe is mature enough to learn the lessons of history. And I'm terrified of what it will take to wake the people of the United States. :The corporate media and the talking heads on US Television and the Radio work hard to villify anyone who disagrees with them. You're either with us, or you're against us is the dogma used. And our education system has been under assault since the 1970's, preventing us from teaching even the basics of a historical context to our children. I didn't learn anything about the true US History until just the last few years. The media and education breakdown is succeeding in teaching our children to be nothing but drones. :Thinking that someone is wrong shouldn't prevent talking to that person, but in the US it does. We live in our homes and only communicate with people that we agree with, creating our own echo chambers to reinforce our own positions on the issues. It's shameful. :About the only thing that we can really do to combat this is by taking ownership of the media, or creating our own media sources. I don't know what else would have an effect. Chadlupkes 02:43, 31 August 2006 (UTC) See Also * Moral Imperatives of Government Category: Civil rights